Growing Broccoli

Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Broccoli

Share:

Rate this Article:

Average: 3.9(595 votes)

Broccoli is a cool-season crop that, like spinach, can be grown in the spring or fall. Here’s how to grow broccoli in your garden.

With broccoli, you may even be able to get a continual harvest throughout the summer and fall if you practice succession gardening and your summers don’t get excessively hot. A member of the cabbage family, broccoli is rich in vitamins.

For spring plantings, seed or set transplants 2 to 3 weeks before last spring frost date. (See local frost dates.) If you transplant, assume 10 less days for growth or the “days to maturity” on the seed packet.

For fall plantings, seed 85 to 100 days before your average first fall frost. If you live in a warm climate, a fall planting is best, as broccoli thrives in cool weather. Plant seeds in mid- to late-summer in most places.

Plant seeds ½ inch deep, or set transplants slightly deeper than they were grown originally.

Within a row, space your plants 12 to 24 inches apart with 36 inches between each row.

Space plants 12 to 24 inches apart, depending on the side heads you want to harvest.

If you overseed, you will need to thin seedlings to 12 inches apart to give room for the broccoli to grow.

Care

Fertilize three weeks after transplanting.

Provide consistent soil moisture with regular watering, especially in drought conditions. Some varieties of broccoli are heat tolerant, but all need moisture.

Pests/Diseases

Aphids: Curling leaves may mean that the plant’s sap is being sucked by insects. Apply soapy water to all sides of leaves whenever you see aphids.

Downy mildew: Yellow patches on leaves are usually caused by moist weather. Keep leaves as dry as possible with good air circulation. Buy resistant varieties.

Cabbage loopers: Small holes on the leaves between the veins mean small green caterpillars are present. Look at the undersides of the leaves. Hand pick if the problem is small or control with Bacillus thuringiensis, a natural, bacterial pesticide. Use a floating row cover just after planting through harvest to prevent caterpillars.

Nitrogen deficiency: If the bottom leaves turn yellow and the problem continues toward the top of the plant, the plants need a high nitrogen (but low phosphorus) fertilizer or blood meal. Blood meal is a quick nitrogen fix for yellowing leaves.

Clubroot: Quickly wilting plants may be due to this fungus in the soil. The entire plant, including all roots and root tendrils, must be gently dug up and removed. If the roots are gnarled and misshapen, then clubroot is the problem. Act quickly to remove the plants so that the fungus doesn’t continue to live in the soil. Do not compost the plants. Raise the pH of your soil to above 7.2. You may need to sterilize your soil, too.

Harvest/Storage

In terms of timing: Harvest broccoli when the buds of the head are firm and tight before the heads flower. If you do see yellow petals, harvest immediately.

For best taste, harvest in the morning before the soil heats up.

Cut heads from the plant, taking at least 6 inches of stem.

Cut the stalk of the main head at a slant, about 5 to 8 inches below the head.

Most varieties have side-shoots that will continue to develop after the main head is harvested. You can harvest from one plant for many weeks, in some cases, from spring to fall, if your summer isn’t too hot.

Store broccoli in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. If you wash before storing, make sure to dry it thoroughly.

If your broccoli doesn’t have

If your broccoli doesn’t have any main “head,” there are a few possibilities. Often, it’s related to timing and temperature. Broccoli likes to be kept cool. It’s started in the spring and will bolt and flower in extreme heat. Or, is it too cold? If broccoli has days near freezing temperatures for several days or a cold snap, this is an issue and causes “buttoning” (tiny, immature heads).

Another reason for lack of heading is a lack of nutrients or water. Is your soil nutrient-rich? Spread some some nitrogen such as fish emulsion. Another issue can be watering. Water the broccoli plants deeply and infrequently, about 1 to 2 inches of water per week.

Help!!!

I have planted my seeds in a burpee starter container 4 days ago and they have sprouted, if I wait 6-8 weeks before transplanting them outside after hardening them it will be around June 3rd (here in Massachusetts our last frost is around the first week of May). Is that timing ok, or did I really have to start them 6-8 BEFORE the last frost? I don't want to transplant them in June if that's bad timing and they won't grow. Thank you!

Broccoli started...

Read the information above, Franciele. Broccoli likes cool weather. Check your frost date here http://www.almanac.com/tool/frost-dates-calculator, and consider that the date is an average, not an absolute. Conditions in different parts of Massachusetts (as anywhere) can vary widely. As for starting 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost, that’s the idea, but it offers flexibility (two weeks’ worth or so). While we do not write seed packet directions, that time range is suggested to give the grower a wide window of opportunity to get seed started. Ideally, you should have started the seeds six to eight weeks before the first week of May. Watch your plants’ progress; it may be that they will be ready to transplant before June. If this doesn’t work out to your satisfaction, buy some seedlings and plan differently next year—or try to get a fall broccoli crop.

Adding Broccoli!

I have killed indoor plants, so I never thought I would be able to maintain a vegetable garden. For the past 4 years, with the help of your site, tips and the email sowing reminders, I have a garden and am able to provide fresh, pesticide free vegetables to my family, neighbors and others! Thank you to the people who maintain this site. This year we add broccoli!

Broccoli

I live in Amarillo texas. We have had some warmer weather this winter and was wondering when the best time to plant would be. Our days are ranging around 40-80 f and the nights are still in the low 30s with a couple of 20s coming up. Should i wait about 1 more month to sow outdoors?

Tip for getting a second broccoli head

I've been using a technique that most of the time produces a second head after a light harvest of the florets that come after the first head is harvested. By then the plant is large and is often infested with aphids or shows some signs of stress. So long as it has not been permitted to bolt by keeping the florets harvested, this technique works about 80% of the time. It might work for plants that only produce a button head as well.

Simply cut the plant back to the point on the stem where there are two good leaves remaining at the base. Yes, that means that most of the plant will be taken off, leaving only a sad looking stump and a couple of leaves. Side dress with well rotted compost and work that into the top couple of inches of soil. Water it in and just keep the soil moist. I use a 4 inch wood chip mulch to keep it moist and the soil cool.

Within a few weeks a leaf bud followed by a new stalk will appear in the crotch of one or both remaining leaves. If there are two, select the most vigorous and clip the other one. That sprouting stalk will thicken up and will produce a new head in 4 to 6 weeks. Because it is growing as an offshoot it may need staking to keep it off the ground. I have gotten 6 inch heads that are ready to harvest in early fall by doing this and it lets me skip replanting seedlings in the heat of summer. I live in a zone 4; central Canada.

Broccoli HEAD is firm but is yellow with brown spots

Hi... I'm a new gardener. Most of my brocolli plants are doing well but one plant has a floret that has more yellow in it with brown flecks... not mold tho. The floret is firm and it looked like this since it was a bud. I wish I can attach a picture.
Is this floret diseased? Should I just toss it in our compost bin?
Thanks.

growing broccoli

No, leaf removal does not help growth In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Until the broccoli head is harvested, do not remove the leaves because this is the way the broccoli feeds itself and grows. If you like eating the leaves (which are fully edible), harvest once the main head is gone. This may affect growth of side sprouts, but it’s generally fine.

Need to join almanac

got head of broccoli

I planted broccoli and it did grow. Got a head and then some side ones grew but not to big at all. Now I have flowers growing on top. What do I do? Pull out the whole plants or do I just cut them down? Help?!

flowering main head

If your main head shows signs of beginning to flower, harvest it immediately, taking at least 6 inches from the stem; cut at a slant. Ideally, you should harvest the head before those buds open, because it will be a little tougher and may not be as tasty, but they are still edible, especially if just a few of the flower buds have started to open.

The plant may also, as you have found, produce side shoots that will continue to develop after the main head is harvested. These will not develop into large heads, but are useful to harvest as florets. When they are of a decent size, harvest them to encourage more to develop. Eventually, after several weeks, the plant will stop producing. For more tips on harvesting, check the “Harvest/Storage” section in the above article. Hope this helps!

Pulling the Broccoli Plant

end of broccoli season

If the pant is no longer producing, there is no reason to leave it in the ground. Depending on where you are (and so how much more growing season you might have), you might be able to get a lettuce/greens crop in its place before frost hits.

watering

Waw! its so good... and i

Waw! its so good... and i would like to thank the growers of this Broccol. realy i opprociate for their cultivation,during this season i would like to cultivate some of the vegetables like cabbage, couliflower, sweet paper, spinach, kale okra including Broccoli. so let me to share with expert of site. and i leave in Mogadishu the capital of Somali Republic. also anybody can share with me...